Top Ten for '13

(Click here to download.)

Don't get me wrong. I like carollers as much as the next guy — probably more. And jubilant church bells? Bring 'em on. But if Bing Crosby major-third-warbles and full-octave-glissandos his way through "White Christmas" one more time within my earshot, whoever has the misfortune of standing next to me is going to overhear some seriously impatient muttering. There may also be pronounced brooding.

Luckily, the odds of any of that happening are slim. Now that Christmas is just a fond memory and some indigestion-fuelled nightmares, we can rejoice in the ban on "holiday music." And what better way to cleanse our ears' palates [Can one sense apparatus be a metaphor for another? Seems suspect... cf. "The cold blue sky gave frostbite to the fingers of his eyes." —Ed.] than with a sampling of the past year's best rock, pop, and electronic music?

As always, my top ten favourite albums from the year are listed in no particular order. New this year, I've put together a compilation of songs from all the albums for you to download. So I guess they are in some order, which is the sequence I thought the sample tracks sounded best in. Anyway, just click the link under the cover image up there to get the mix.

And no capsule reviews this time around. You can find out everything you need to know about all these albums elsewhere, plus how many different ways are there to say I like something? Probably fewer than ten.

(OK, you might not find out too much about that Husband & Knife recording, which is a local download-only release available by buying a booklet of spooky black & white Dartmouth-at-night photographs from dronemaster KC Spidle, who wrote and recorded all the songs with the appropriately spare help of a few likeminded pals. But seriously, everything else on here is not exactly languishing in obscurity.)

Here's the album/track list:

Arcade Fire—Reflektor

Sample Track: "We Exist"

Dog Day—Fade Out

Sample Track: "Sunset"

My Bloody Valentine—mbv
Sample Track: "If I Am"

The Knife—Shaking the Habitual
Sample Track: "A Tooth for an Eye"

Atoms for Peace—Amok
Sample Track: "Ingenue"

Boards of Canada—Tomorrow's Harvest
Sample Track: "Cold Earth"

Oneohtrix Point Never—R Plus Seven
Sample Track: "Chrome Country"

Flaming Lips—The Terror
Sample Track: "Be Free, A Way"

Husband & Knife—Husband/Knife & The Drone
Sample Track: "Bring It Down"

Kurt Vile—Wakin on a Pretty Daze
Sample Track: "Was All Talk"

For maximum enjoyment, listen loud on headphones while getting lost in a snowy forest.